Politically Incorrect
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: A scandal involving her politician father rocks Rei's world and puts her in the path of unexpected danger.


Contains vague threats of a sexual nature and mild violence.

Politically Incorrect

Rei awoke one morning with the strong feeling that it was going to be a very bad day.

Her hunches were rarely wrong. Starting from the time she was a little girl, she had the ability to sense things that other people couldn't. She used to hate her so-called "gift", but as she grew older and learned how to control it better, she realized it could be quite handy at times, especially when it came to battle.

_Is a new enemy about to arrive? _Rei wondered, still laying in bed. Since the battle with Galaxia nearly two years ago, things had been quite peaceful in Tokyo, but that didn't mean they could afford to relax their guard.

A fire reading was in order. Though it was only five in the morning, about an hour before she normally woke up, Rei climbed out of bed and dressed in her usual miko attire. She then tiptoed to the meditation room and kneeled before the shrine's sacred fire. The heat pleasantly warmed her skin as she performed the summoning ritual and opened her mind to receive any message the fire saw fit to give her.

However, the fire was unyielding to her inquiries. No matter how many times she asked the meaning behind the foreboding she sensed, it gave up no answers. She was finally broken out of her trance when she felt someone place a hand upon her shoulder.

"Oh, it's you," she said, craning her neck around. "You startled me."

Her grandfather stood behind her. "You're up early this morning. See anything interesting?"

Rei sighed, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "No. It wouldn't tell me anything."

"The fire spirit can be frustrating like that sometimes," he said. "Don't worry too much about it. Now, go take a bath and get ready for school. I'll start on breakfast. Pancakes sound good?"

She nodded and arose back to her feet.

After cleaning up and changing into her school uniform, Rei joined her grandfather in the kitchen, where he was in the middle of making a large stack of pancakes. Her stomach lightly growled as the fresh scent tickled her nose, and for a moment, she forgot all about her worries.

"Mmm, it smells delicious, ojii-chan."

"Thanks," he said, flipping over one of the pancakes. "Would you mind fetching the paper while I finish up with these?"

"Sure."

She headed to the front yard and picked up the morning paper, the bad feeling returning in the pit of her stomach the second she touched it. Rather than bring it straight back to her grandfather, Rei unfolded the newspaper and began reading the top news story.

"Rei-chan?" Her grandfather appeared at the front door, worried when she didn't come back. "What is it? Something wrong?"

Too stunned for words, she simply handed him the paper. He seemed confused at first, but then his eyes widened in understanding when he saw the main headline: _Prominent Diet Member Caught In Sex Scandal_. "Oh, my…"

Inside the house, the phone began to ring. As Rei was still in shock by what she had just read, her grandfather left to answer it. He came back a few moments later.

"It's your father, Rei-chan," he announced. "He wants to talk to you."

She finally snapped out of it. "Well, I don't want to talk to him," she said, balling her hands into fists. "Tell him I've already left for school or something."

After a second of hesitation, he agreed. "Okay, if that's what you want."

Rei followed her grandfather back inside, listening to his side of the conversation as he picked the phone back up.

"I'm sorry, Hino-sama. I'm afraid you just missed her. She's already left. It must be her day for cleaning duty at school. … Yes, I saw the paper. … I see. … I understand. I will give Rei-chan the message. … Goodbye, Hino-sama."

The moment he hung up the phone, Rei asked, "What did he want?"

"He wants to meet with you after school."

"I don't want to see him. I'm not going."

Her grandfather sighed. "I thought you would say that, but Rei-chan, I think you should go. There's something important he needs to tell you."

"What? That he couldn't keep it in his pants and knocked up one of his political aides? I already know that, thanks to this." She held up the paper her grandfather had set down by the phone to take the call.

"There's more to the story, I'm afraid," he said with a frown.

"_More_? What more can there possibly be?"

He shook his head. "It's not my place to say. It would be best if you heard the news straight from Hino-sama himself. He'll be waiting for you at his office at four."

"Do I really have to go, ojii-chan?"

"I won't force you, but I think you should at least consider it."

"Fine, I'll think about it," she promised, although she doubted she would change her mind. Heading back to the entrance, she slipped on her shoes and gathered her things for school. "I'm going now."

"What about breakfast?" he called out as she slid open the front door.

"I've suddenly lost my appetite."

Yes, it was definitely going to be a bad day.

* * *

When Rei arrived at TA Academy, she immediately wished she had stayed home. Many of her classmates had seen that morning's paper, making her family hot gossip around the school. Most kept their distance, keeping their disapproving stares and whispers to the shadows, but some of the less tactful girls couldn't resist poking their noses in her business, wanting to know the "inside scoop". By the time lunchtime was over, Rei couldn't take it anymore and excused herself to the nurse's office.

"Well, you don't have a fever, Hino-san," the school nurse said, taking the thermometer from her mouth, "but if you really aren't feeling well, I don't mind if you stay and rest awhile." She shot Rei a look of pity. "I understand it must be tough for you."

Though annoyed by the nurse's feigned sympathy, Rei took her up on the offer, grateful for the reprieve from the gossipmongers. She stayed in there until the last period, at which the nurse suggested she might as well go home for the day if she wasn't going to return to class.

However, Rei didn't go home, not wanting her grandfather to know she had skipped out on a half-day's worth of classes. Instead, she headed in the direction of the cemetery where Hino Risa was buried, missing her mother more than ever.

Her mother had died when Rei was only six. She'd never been a very healthy woman, having suffered from congenital heart problems, but she always tried her best to be a good mother, perhaps to make up for the fact that Rei's father was rarely around, too wrapped up in his work to care about his wife and daughter. He wasn't even present when she died in the hospital - a memory that still made Rei's blood boil whenever she thought about it.

"I hate him," she said, her fingers clutching the hem of her skirt as she kneeled in front of her mother's grave. "How could he do something like this? After everything he did to you, to us, how could he…?" She swiped her sleeve over her eyes, hating that her father still had the power to make her cry. "I'll never forgive him. I won't."

And that was exactly what she was going to say to him the next time she saw him. Though she had originally planned to skip out on the meeting with her father, Rei decided to go after all. She would allow him tell her the news that was so important that he needed to see her face-to-face, but after that, they were through. She'd had enough disappointments in her life.

She would not let him hurt her anymore.

* * *

Hino Takashi's secretary was not at her desk when Rei arrived at his office at the Diet building, but since it was already five minutes after four, she went straight inside without knocking, finding her father working on some paperwork at his desk.

"Hello, otou-sama," she said coolly, closing the door behind her. "You wanted to see me?"

Her father glanced up, startled by her abrupt entrance. "R-Rei-san, yes." He set aside his papers and cleared his throat as he stood up. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please, have a seat," he said, indicating the chair in front of his desk. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"

Without answering his question, Rei sat down in the offered chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Will this take long? I have chores to do at the shrine."

He sat back down as well, letting out a sigh. "No, I don't intend to keep you. I just thought I should inform you of this in person, rather than allow you to hear the news through the media."

Her eyes narrowed. "If this is about your girlfriend's pregnancy, it's too late. I'm already well aware of it."

"Yes, I assumed you would be." He took off his glasses and rubbed at his temple. He looked tired, as if he hadn't been sleeping well for the past couple of nights. "I'm still not sure how that news broke out. We were hoping to keep her pregnancy under wraps until after."

"What do you mean, 'after'? After what?"

He paused for a moment before finally answering, "After the wedding."

"Wedding? You mean, you're marrying that bimbo?"

Her father put his glasses back on, shooting Rei a reproachful look. "Her name is Kimura Suzume-san, and I expect you to treat her with the utmost respect."

"Why should I?" Rei demanded to know.

"Because she will become your new mother."

"Mother?" She jumped up from the chair, no longer able to contain her anger any longer. "Okaa-sama may no longer be here with us, but she's still my one and only mother. I don't need a new one, especially not _her_."

"Forgive me," he said in a soft voice. "I meant no disrespect to Risa-san's memory. I know nobody will ever be able to replace her."

"Then why are you getting married again?" she asked, disliking that tears were welling in her eyes yet again. What had happen to her resolve not to let him hurt her again?

"It's the right thing to do, Rei-san. The baby needs a name, and I'm…Well, I'm very fond of Suzume-san."

"Fond? You don't even love her?" Rei plopped back down in the chair, glaring at him. "I feel sorry for Kimura-san and the baby. You'll ignore them just as you did okaa-sama and me."

"Rei-san…"

"I don't want to hear anymore, otou-sama." She began gathering her things, regretting that she ever decided to come. It was a mistake. "I have to go. Good luck with your new family."

"Wait."

Against her better judgment, she remained sitting. "What?"

"I was hoping you would join us for dinner Saturday night. Suzume-san is anxious to meet you."

"I have plans," she lied.

"It wasn't a request." His voice was sharper than before, inviting no argument. "I'll see you Saturday. We eat at 7:30. I'll send the car for you."

"Fine. Whatever. Can I go now?"

Her father exhaled, slumping his shoulders as he sat back in his chair. "Yes, you may go," he said with a dismissive wave.

* * *

_Married? _They were getting married?

The day just kept getting worse and worse. Rei had never even considered the possibility that her father might marry again. As far as she knew, until Kimura Suzume entered the picture, he hadn't dated anybody since her mother's death, a situation which had suited Rei just fine. He deserved to be alone after all the pain he caused her mother, throwing himself into his work when she needed him the most. Rei would have been more than happy if he had remained a widower for the rest of the life in repentance of the many sins he committed toward his family. In fact, his apparent celibacy was, in Rei's eyes, the only halfway decent thing he had done in his pathetic life.

But now he was starting a new family with some girl half his age, and he seemed to think she should be a part of it. What a joke! If he expected her to actually attend dinner with his new fiancée and play the part of an obedient, loving daughter -

"Ah, Rei-chan, welcome home," her grandfather said, interrupting her thoughts as she passed through the torii in front of the shrine. "Did you go to see your fa-?

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped, cutting him off.

"I'll take that as a yes." He frowned, but didn't ask any more about it. "Your friends are here, by the way," he said, changing the subject. "They said they came over for a study session, so I let them in. I hope that's okay. They're waiting for you in your room."

"Study session?" Rei let out a sigh. "Oh, yeah, I forgot that was today."

As had been the case in the months before the high school entrance exams, her friends had made the shrine their place of choice for studying for their college entrance exams - disregarding the fact that Rei herself wasn't even taking them. She normally didn't mind, but today she not in the mood. Hopefully, her friends would understand and find some other place to study for the afternoon.

Sliding open the door to her bedroom, she found Usagi and the others crowded around Minako, who was holding up a copy of some tawdry tabloid magazine. Minako immediately hid the magazine behind her back when she saw Rei standing at the door, and the others scattered to their usual seats around the table.

"Hi, Rei-chan, you're kinda late," Minako said as if nothing had happened. "We were wondering where you were."

Rei walked over and held out her hand. "Give it to me."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Give me the magazine, Minako-chan," she ordered.

"B-But -"

"Now."

Though reluctant, Minako eventually handed over the magazine, which had a salacious headline about the scandal splashed across the front cover in bold red kanji. After kneeling down at the table, Rei flipped through the pages until she found the pertinent article and scanned it. It mostly reported the same details she had read in the morning paper, but it was accompanied by several photographs of her father and a young woman exiting what appeared to be a love hotel, their arms linked together.

Rei's attention mostly fell on the woman, who looked nothing like the way she imagined. When Rei first learned of the affair, she had pictured her father's mistress as either a bleached blonde with tight clothes and too much make-up or a woman of such otherworldly beauty, she had the power to seduce even the most dedicated workaholic, but Kimura Suzume was actually rather…ordinary. Attractive, but not overly so, with honey brown hair and lightly tanned skin, she was dressed in a nice tailored skirt-suit and sensible heels. She looked professional and put-together, the picture of a serious career woman except for the fact that her blouse was slightly rumpled and her hair a little messy after their presumed tryst at the hotel. Her father showed similar signs of being disheveled, with a crooked tie and a faint lipstick mark on his cheek, which one picture showed Suzume trying to wipe away with her handkerchief.

"It's just a stupid tabloid, Rei-chan," Makoto said when a couple of minutes passed without her reacting. "Nobody believes anything they read in those things."

"Mako-chan is right," Ami agreed. "The photos are probably fake, too. Nowadays, anybody with a decent graphics program can -"

"No, it's true. It's all true." Rei closed the magazine, having seen enough, and tossed it facedown in the middle of the table. "In fact, he plans on marrying her, but who cares about that, right? I sure as hell don't give a damn."

"Rei-chan, are you…?" Usagi started, but Rei shook her head.

"Just drop it, okay? Let's get to work. You did come here to study, right?" Forgetting her earlier plans to tell them to leave, Rei pulled out her math textbook and turned to the chapter her teacher had covered that morning - not that she had paid much attention to the lecture. "Ami-chan, teach me how to use this formula. I didn't understand what the teacher was saying at all."

Her friends got the message. Nobody else mentioned a word about the scandal for the rest of the study session, and working on her homework turned out to be a welcome distraction for Rei. However, when it came time for the girls to go home, Minako lingered behind the others, offering to help Rei clean up the small mess they had made.

"I really _don't _want to talk about it," Rei said before she could even bring up the subject.

Minako tossed a couple of pieces of balled-up scrap paper into the trash can and frowned. "But you're obviously upset about all this. I mean, it must be a lot to take in at once. Your father's getting married again, and they're having a baby…"

"So? Why should I care?" Rei plopped down on her bed and rolled over on her back, covering her eyes with her arm. "It has nothing to do with me."

"Rei-chan…"

"Just go home, Minako-chan. If you're late for dinner, your mother will yell at you."

"So what else is new? She's always yelling at me about something or other."

"But at least you know she loves you," Rei mumbled, her voice too soft for Minako to make out.

"What? Did you say something, Rei-chan?"

Sitting back up, Rei shook her head. "Never mind. I can finish straightening up here, so you can go ahead and leave. Really, I'm fine."

Minako didn't seem convinced, but finally gave up. "Okay, I'm going, but if you ever do feel like talking to somebody, even if it's just to vent your frustrations, we're always here to listen."

Once Minako had left, Rei resumed cleaning up the room, pausing when she came across the tabloid magazine, still laying in the center of the table where she had tossed it earlier. Minako had forgotten to take it with her. Rei started to throw it away with the rest of the trash, but instead turned back to the main article, once again staring at the photographs of her father and Kimura Suzume.

Tears threatened to fall, but Rei held them back, refusing to cry.

Somebody else had left behind a pink highlighter pen. She reached for the pen and drew large "X" marks over their smiling faces. When that didn't make her feel any better, she then proceeded to rip out the two-page spread and tear it into a hundred tiny pieces.

She did get some satisfaction out of that, but only just a little.

Sighing, Rei tossed the rest of the magazine into the trash and crawled into bed after changing into her pajamas, hoping that when morning came, she would wake up and discover that everything that had happened had just been a bad dream.

* * *

"Ojii-chan, call otou-sama and tell him I'm too sick to go to dinner," Rei said Saturday night, one hour before she was to meet her father and his new fiancée.

Rei's grandfather looked up from his raking. "You look perfectly healthy to me."

"Well, I'm not." She coughed into her fist. "See?"

He arched an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. "That's just pathetic, Rei-chan."

"Okay, so I'm not really sick. I still don't want to go to this stupid dinner and make stupid small talk with his stupid fiancée." She took one of his hands. "Please, I'll even do extra chores. Just give him some excuse."

"It's only for a couple of hours; it won't kill you to go. Besides, you might even like Kimura-san," he said.

"I doubt it." Rei leaned her back against the nearby sakura tree. "Do you know how old she is?" She didn't wait for him to hazard a guess. "Twenty-seven. Can you believe it? She's only nine years older than I am!"

"Well, perhaps you'll have a lot in common, then."

"Why aren't you more upset about this?" she asked, confused as to why he seemed to be on her father's side. The two of them had never been on the best of terms. "It's like he's forgotten okaa-sama ever existed."

"I don't think that's true," he said, resuming his raking. "It's been over ten years since your mother passed away. I don't begrudge Hino-sama a little happiness."

"He doesn't even love her, you know. He's just marrying her to protect his precious image."

"People marry for different reasons. It's not my place to judge."

"Well, it is mine!" Rei said, crossing her arms defiantly. "He's an embarrassment, becoming a father again and getting married to a girl half his age like he's going through some kind of mid-life crisis. Why couldn't he just buy a Ferrari or something like that?"

Her grandfather finally put down his rake and walked over to where she stood, placing his hands on her upper arms. "Look, I understand this situation must be difficult for you, but he is still your father, and that baby will be your new brother or sister. If Hino-sama is reaching out to you, I think you should at least give him a chance to try to make amends."

"It's too late." A tear rolled down Rei's cheek without her permission. "I don't want to be a part of his new family. You're the only family I need, ojii-chan."

"Oh, Rei-chan…" He reached up and wiped the tear away with his wrinkled hand. "Don't let your stubborn pride get in the way of something potentially wonderful. This could be a second chance for you and your father; isn't that what you always wanted?"

Maybe when she was younger, but… "Not anymore," she said bitterly. "I gave up hope for reconciliation a long time ago." Rei pulled away. "I should get dressed. The car will probably be here soon."

"You're going?" he asked as she began walking back to the living quarters.

She glanced behind her. "Will you call otou-sama and cover for me?"

There was a brief pause before he finally answered, "No. I think you should go."

Rei sighed. "Then it looks like I don't have any choice in the matter, does it?"

* * *

Her father's chauffeured car dropped her off at his apartment building about ten minutes before 7:30. It was only the second time she ever visited, and she was surprised to see two security guards standing outside the front entrance. After confirming who she was, one of the men escorted her up to her father's penthouse apartment, where he then took up post beside the door.

_Well, this seems a bit like overkill, _Rei thought. Sure, her father was a member of the Diet, but security was nowhere near this tight the last time she came.

After taking in a deep breath, she brought her fist up to lightly knock on the door. A part of her hoped that he had forgotten their dinner plans - it wouldn't be the first time - but a few seconds later, the door opened, revealing her father's figure.

"Rei-san, you came." He sounded almost surprised that she bothered to show up.

"You told me to," she reminded him. "More like ordered me to."

"Yes, I just thought -" He shook his head and swung the door open even wider. "Never mind. Come in. I'm glad you made it."

Rei entered the apartment and slipped off her heels, switching into a pair of guest slippers provided. Noticing that her father was dressed rather casually in a pair of khakis and a polo shirt rather than the business suits he usually favored, she felt a bit overdressed - even more so when Kimura Suzume exited the kitchen, wearing a trendy maxi dress that just barely hid her small baby bump. A surgical mask covered her mouth, which she seemed to had forgotten about until she attempted to speak.

"Sorry, my morning sickness has been really terrible lately," she said after pulling the mask down. "Nobody ever told me it could happen at any time of day!" She moved to stand beside Rei's father, who placed a hand on the small of her back and cleared his throat.

"Rei-san, I'd like you to meet my fiancée, Kimura Suzume-san."

Suzume bowed politely. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Rei-san."

Rei couldn't exactly say the same for her, but responded in kind, minding her manners. "It's nice to meet you, too, Kimura-san."

"Dinner will be ready in just a couple of minutes," she announced, "so why don't you two have a seat at the table?"

Suzume headed back to the kitchen while Rei followed her father to the dining room, which looked very different from the last time she had seen it. Rather than the dark colors her father tended to favor, it had been redecorated in a lighter palate with a distinctive feminine touch.

"I hope you like smoked salmon," her father said once they sat down at the table. "It's Suzume-san's specialty."

"It's fine," Rei said, setting the linen napkin in her lap. "Is she living here?"

"Yes, she moved in a few days ago. The paparazzi were harassing her at her previous residence, and this building offers more security."

So that explained the guards... "Still, aren't you afraid of how it will look when the media finds out?" she asked, surprised he would risk making the scandal worse than it already was. "You're not married yet."

"We intend to file the paperwork at City Hall next week."

"Next week?!"

Suzume chose that moment to return, setting the main course in the middle of the table before sitting down beside Rei's father. "We don't see any sense in waiting," she said in response to Rei's shocked exclamation.

"But what about a wedding ceremony?"

She shook her head. "I don't need one. My family isn't exactly supportive of this marriage, anyway." Rei's father reached for Suzume's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I doubt they would come, even if we did have a wedding."

"We can have a proper celebration once things have died down," he said. "They won't stay angry with you forever."

"You're right. I'm sure they'll come around, eventually." She smiled at him in appreciation, then pulled her hand away and began filling up her plate. "Enough of this depressing talk. This should be a happy occasion, right? Let's eat! I'm starving."

"It's as delicious as always, Suzume-san," he said, taking a bite of the salmon.

"Thank you. Do you like it, Rei-chan?" she asked. "Oh, sorry, do you mind if I call you that?"

"It's fine," Rei said, not particularly caring what she called her, "and, yes, it's very good." As much as she didn't want to admit it, Suzume _was _a great cook.

"Oh, good, I'm so glad you like it. I wasn't sure what to cook for this dinner." She chuckled softly to herself. "I think I drove your poor father a little insane, asking him what foods you liked, but he didn't know."

Rei stabbed at a cherry tomato in her salad. "No, he wouldn't, would he?" she muttered, causing her father to frown.

However, he didn't say anything, allowing a seemingly oblivious Suzume to change the subject. "If I remember correctly, you attend TA Academy, right? Do you belong to any clubs?"

"The archery club."

"Yes, Rei-san recently won the district tournament," her father offered, as if to make up for not knowing her favorite food.

His knowledge of that fact did take Rei by surprise, though, as he, of course, hadn't attended the tournament. She didn't even invite him, knowing it was pointless to hope that he would ever attend one of her school events. His work always took priority over anything important to her.

"You did? Congratulations! That's very impressive," Suzume said. "I was a member of the archery club back during my first year in high school, but I'm afraid I wasn't very good at it." She giggled at some private memory. "I quit after a month and tried out for the tennis club instead, but I was terrible at that, as well."

"After that, you joined the student council, didn't you?"

"Right, and that's how I became interested in politics."

Rei's father's face broke out into a smile she had rarely seen him wear since before her mother died. "How fortunate."

"Yes, it is," Suzume agreed, grinning back at him.

Rei stared down at her plate and picked at her food, having lost most of her appetite. The two of them seemed lost in their own little world, irritating her. Her father was staring at Suzume the same way he had sometimes looked at her mother, in the days before her health took a sharp turn for the worse and he wasn't such a workaholic. Rei had almost forgotten there was a time like that, and she didn't appreciate being reminded of it in such a way.

"So, Rei-chan, do you have a boyfriend?" Suzume asked, finally remembering they had a guest.

Startled from her thoughts, Rei glanced back up. "No, I don't."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "A pretty girl like you, I'd expect you to be beating guys off a stick."

"I'm not interested," Rei said. "Men are unreliable."

"Some of them are, I agree, but there are a lot of good, decent ones out there as well. Your father, for example, is -"

"- the most unreliable man I know," she interrupted, no longer even attempting to put up a polite front.

"Rei-san…" Her father's voice was half-reproachful, half-pleading.

But she wasn't going to lie. If Suzume wanted to marry him and raise a family with him, then she at least deserved to know who Hino Takashi really was. He wasn't the wonderful person she seemed to think he was.

Suzume, sensing the hostility between them, set down her silverware and stood up. "Um, I should check on the dessert. Please excuse me," she said before going back to the kitchen to give them some privacy.

Rei crossed her arms over chest, glaring at her father across the table. "If you're expecting some sort of apology…"

Sighing, he hid his face in his hands. "No, I probably deserve that, but I'm trying to be better, Rei-san. I want things to be different this time."

"Different?" She scoffed. "So, what - okaa-sama and I were like your practice family?"

His head shot back up. "No, that's not what I meant. Why must you always twist my words around?"

"Maybe because I can never tell when you're being straight and honest," she said. "I'm not one of your constituents; you can't fool me with pretty words and empty promises. You may say you want to change, and maybe you even will for a little while, but it won't be long before you abandon Kimura-san and the baby just like you did us. Your work will always be the most important thing in your life, and nothing will ever change that."

Rei stood up to leave just as Suzume returned to the dining room. Judging by the look on her face, she had overheard everything Rei had said.

"Thank you for dinner, Kimura-san, but I think I should go," she said. "It was a mistake coming here."

"Rei-san, please…

Ignoring her father's pleas to stay, she brushed past Suzume and ran out of the apartment building, holding back tears.

* * *

Rei's grandfather left the next day to go on a week-long spiritual retreat in the mountains. Though he offered to cancel his plans and stay with her, feeling guilty that he had forced her attend her father's dinner when she hadn't wanted to go in the first place, Rei insisted that he go. It wasn't like he could do anything about what happened, anyway.

Her father was probably furious with her. He had called the shrine about an hour after she returned home, but Rei had refused to talk to him, too angry and embarrassed about the way she had acted.

Why did he still hold so much sway over her emotions? It was ridiculous! It wasn't as if she was still a child, yet every time she saw her father, she acted liked one, petulant and stubborn.

Rei pushed the thoughts away and turned her attention on her chores. Even with her grandfather away, there was still plenty of work to be done around the shrine. She threw herself into the tasks, grateful to focus her mind on other things beside her father.

While in the middle of scrubbing the porch, however, Rei sensed the presence of another person. She glanced up, her eyes widening slightly when she saw her father's fiancée walking through the torii. Suzume continued walking toward her as Rei tossed her rag in a bucket of soapy water and rose to her feet.

"Kimura-san," she said, "what are you doing here?"

Suzume smiled, acting as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to visit Hikawa. "I came to buy a charm. I heard the charms from this shrine are considered especially lucky."

"I'm sorry, but we're not selling charms today. My grandfather is away, so the shrine is closed for the week."

"Oh, I didn't realize. That's a shame."

Rei's eyes narrowed in suspicion, seeing right through her act. "Did my father send you?" It would be just like him to send somebody else to deal with her, rather than to confront her face-to-face.

Suzume shook her head, losing a little bit of her forced cheer. "No, Takashi doesn't even know I'm here," she admitted. "I came under my own volition. I was hoping we could talk."

"I'm busy," Rei said in a curt tone, kneeling back down and retrieving the rag from her bucket in order to resume her scrubbing.

"Please, Rei-chan, this shouldn't take long."

Pausing mid-scrub, Rei let out a sigh. As furious as she was at her father, Suzume had been nothing but kind to her. It wasn't fair to take her anger out on her. "Fine, I guess I can take a short break," she said, climbing down from the porch to join her.

"Thank you."

The two of them began walking around the shrine, Rei following Suzume's lead. Despite asking for the chance to talk, it seemed Suzume was reluctant to broach whatever topic had brought her there, more interested in watching Phobos and Deimos - Rei's faithful pet crows - fly around than having any sort of conversation.

"This really is a lovely shrine," Suzume finally said as the two crows grew tired of their game and flew off. "It's so peaceful here."

"Thanks." Having had enough of her stalling, Rei stopped mid-step and cut straight to the point. "What did you want to talk to me about, Kimura-san?"

After a brief pause, Suzume, who had continued walking ahead of her, turned around to face Rei. "I think we got off on the wrong foot last night."

Rei frowned. She had a feeling that was the reason behind Suzume's surprise visit. "It's not your fault. Things are always like that between me and my father."

"Takashi said the same thing after you left last night."

"We've never had a good relationship," Rei confessed. "Even when my mother was alive, he never paid much attention to us. He was always too busy with his politics."

Suzume grinned. "Yes, he is quite the workaholic, isn't he?"

"Doesn't that upset you?"

She shook her head, holding her hands behind her back. "His passion for his job was one of the things that first attracted me to him. I love that he's such a hard worker and admire him greatly."

"Well, I hate it," Rei said. "He abandoned okaa-sama when she needed him most, then sent me to live here with ojii-chan when being a single father was too much of an inconvenience for him. All he ever cared about was work."

Suzume's smile disappeared, and her shoulders slumped. "Look, Rei-chan, I won't make excuses for him, but I think your father really regrets some of the sacrifices he made for his career."

"It's too late for regrets. Regrets won't bring okaa-sama back. Regrets won't make up for a lifetime of disappointment." Looking Suzume straight in the eye, Rei continued, "That's the kind of man you're marrying, Kimura-san. If I were you, I'd take the baby and raise it on my own. Your child would be better off without a father than one who doesn't care about him."

For a long moment, Suzume didn't respond. She placed a hand over her small baby bump and sighed.

"You must think I'm naïve," she said in a soft voice, "wanting to marry Takashi and have a family with him despite knowing the hurt he caused you and your mother. He never tried to hide it from me. Nothing you've said has come as a shock to me."

"Then wh-?"

"Because I don't think he's that man anymore," she said. "This pregnancy wasn't planned, obviously. I remember when I first learned I was pregnant, I was so nervous to tell him. I wasn't sure how he would react. I thought he might ask me to get rid of it in order to prevent a scandal from breaking out, but when I finally told him… He was shocked, and I think maybe even a little scared - we both were - but most of all, he was happy. Honestly happy."

Rei found that hard to believe, and the doubt must have shown on her face, for Suzume stepped forward and took her hands in her own. "He's trying to change, Rei-chan. I know you think I'm being fooled, but he is. Takashi considers this baby his second chance, and I think he would really like to have a better relationship with you as well." She sighed. "Maybe it is too much to hope that you could completely forgive him for the pain he caused you, but -"

"You're right," Rei said, cutting her off and pulling away from Suzume. She had heard more than enough. "I will never forgive him. I can't."

"Rei-chan…"

"If you want to marry him, fine. You have my blessing. I even hope you're right about otou-sama's desire to change, for your baby's sake. But it's too late for him to be my father. I don't need him anymore. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my chores. Goodbye, Kimura-san."

The second Rei turned around to leave, however, the two of them were suddenly grabbed from behind. Their attackers were so quick and quiet that Rei had no time to react. A sweet-smelling cloth covered her nose and mouth, and within seconds, her body went limp as a rag doll as she fell unconscious.

* * *

Rei's eyes fluttered opened, and she groaned, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over her as she struggled to focus her vision on her new surroundings.

She was no longer at the Hikawa shrine. Whoever had attacked them had imprisoned them in a small, windowless room. The only source of illumination came from a naked light bulb hanging above her head. Her wrists and ankles were bound together by metal handcuffs, and a few feet away, she found Suzume laying on her side, similarly trussed up.

"Kimura-san!"

Rei used the little mobility she had to scoot over to her father's fiancée, relieved to see that Suzume was at least still breathing, although she remained unconscious.

"What's going on here? What happened to us?"

Her memories were hazy. She remembered talking to Suzume, but then they were attacked and… She couldn't recall what happened next. They must have been knocked out somehow. Chloroform? But why? She didn't think it was a new enemy. Their attackers' methods were too mundane, too human, to be the work of some supernatural entity.

She shook her head. That wasn't important at the moment. They needed to find a way out of there.

If only she could transform into Sailor Mars, it would be a simple matter to break out. Unfortunately, she didn't have her henshin stick on hand. With things being so peaceful for so long, Rei had fallen out of the habit of carrying it and her communicator everywhere she went. Even if she did happen to have those items with her, it would have been difficult to use them with her hands bound together behind her back.

She glanced around the room, searching for anything that might prove useful in setting them free, but it was completely empty except for the two of them. No beds, no chairs, no boxes… No windows, either, and there were likely guards posted outside the door, blocking the one possible escape route.

She sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, there was little she could do at this point, except hope that somebody would notice they were missing and come rescue them. With her grandfather out of town, though, and her friends wrapped up in studying for their upcoming college entrance exams, it would probably be a while before anybody realized she was gone.

As for her father… He was probably too busy working to even care about his fiancée's absence, much less hers.

Suzume moaned, finally stirring from her sleep.

"Kimura-san, are you okay?" Rei asked.

"Rei-chan?" She blinked a couple of times. "I-I think so," she said, struggling to sit up against the wall. "What happened?"

"We've been kidnapped, I think, although I don't know by whom. I didn't see who attacked us. Did you?"

Suzume seemed unsurprised by what happened, her eyes narrowing. "It's the Takishima-gumi. It has to be."

"The Takishima-gumi? You mean, as in the Yakuza?"

Her face grim, she nodded. "They've been trying to blackmail Takashi for the past couple of weeks," Suzume revealed. "Their main source of revenue is the sex trade, but a new bill that Takashi introduced in the Diet will make it more difficult to conduct their business if passed. They're the ones who leaked the news of our affair and my pregnancy to the media. We decided it was more important to get the bill passed than to protect our reputations, so he didn't take them up on their offer to keep quiet in exchange for withdrawing the bill."

"But otou-sama told me he didn't know how the media found out about you," Rei said, remembering the conversation they had right after the scandal broke out.

"He didn't want to worry you." She frowned. "But what happened to our bodyguards? Why didn't they come to our rescue when we were attacked?"

"Bodyguards?" Rei thought back to the previous night when she had arrived at her father's apartment for dinner. "You mean, those guards weren't there to keep away the paparazzi?"

"They did that, too, but your father mainly hired them to protect us in case something like this happened. One of them has been guarding you, too, in secret," Suzume said. "They're supposedly some of the best in the business, so I don't understand what happened to them."

She got her answer a few minutes later when the door to the room swung open and a heavy-set man in a black suit stepped inside. Rei had never seen him before, but Suzume let out a small gasp, apparently recognizing him.

"Yamaguchi-kun?" Another man walked up behind the first. "Touma-kun?" A fire burned in Suzume's eyes. "You were the ones who kidnapped us? But you were hired to protect us!"

"Sorry, Kimura-san," the second man - Touma - said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "The Takishima-gumi offered us a deal that was too sweet to pass up. Don't worry; you won't be harmed as long as Hino-sama does as he's told." He turned to his partner. "I'll let the boss know that they've regained conscious."

Yamaguchi nodded his understanding, and Touma left to relay the message.

"How could you do this to us?" Suzume demanded to know, still seething in anger at the bodyguards' betrayal. "Have you no honor? No pride?"

"I don't want to hear that from a woman who uses her body to get ahead in her career," Yamaguchi said, looking down at her.

Suzume was too stunned by the accusation to react, looking as if she had just been slapped in the face.

"When will you set us free?" Rei asked, wanting some answers. "Has my father been contacted yet? Has he agreed to your boss's demands?"

"The trade-off will be tonight. If all goes according to plan, you'll be released in time to enjoy a late family dinner and fall asleep in your own cozy beds."

"And if it doesn't?" Her heart began to race a little faster. "What will happen to us if otou-sama refuses to follow orders?"

"You just better pray to whatever deity you worship that he does," was all Yamaguchi would say before he left as well, slamming the door shut behind him.

_Great, _Rei thought bitterly._ Otou-sama is the last person I want to depend on in this situation_. Again, she berated herself for becoming lax about keeping her henshin stick and communicator with her at all times. When they got out of there - if they ever got of there - she would make certain she never made that mistake again.

She glanced over at Suzume, who seemed to be doing her best not to break down. In spite of her efforts, however, a few stubborn tears ran down her cheeks. "It's not true," she said in a soft, barely audible voice. "It's not. I love him. It wasn't like that at all."

"Kimura-san?"

"You believe me, right, Rei-chan?" She looked up. "What that man said, it was a lie. You have to believe me. I would never do something like that."

"I…" Seeing the desperation on Suzume's face, Rei sighed. She didn't know - or particularly care - whether or not the woman had slept with her father just to further her career, but if it mattered to her so much… "Yes, I believe you, Kimura-san," she said.

Suzume managed a small, grateful smile. "Thank you."

"But will otou-sama really do as they say?" Rei asked, turning the subject to far more pressing matters. "They want him to retract some bill proposal, right? Do you think he'll actually do it?

"He'll think of something," she declared, pulling herself back together. "I know he will, so don't worry. Everything is going to be fine."

Rei only wished she could have the same kind of faith in Hino Takashi as Suzume did.

* * *

The hours went by slowly. With no windows or clocks in sight, it was difficult to judge what time of day it was. It could still be morning, or it might have already been nightfall.

Their captors didn't provide any meals, either. Rei was starving, but she imagined Suzume was even more so, considering her pregnancy. To her credit, however, she didn't complain about the lack of food even once. Had Usagi been in the same situation, Rei was certain she would whine about it to high heaven, a thought that might have made her laugh if things weren't so dire.

"I'm sorry, Rei-chan," Suzume said, pulling Rei away from her thoughts. It was the first thing either of them had said in quite a while.

"For what?"

"It's my fault you got dragged into this. Takashi told me that I shouldn't leave the apartment unless it was absolutely necessary, but I didn't listen and went to the shrine to talk to you. I thought it would be okay as long as Yamaguchi-kun and Touma-kun were there to protect us, but…"

"I don't blame you, Kimura-san." Rei let out a weary sigh. "If anyone is at fault for this, it's otou-sama."

Suzume frowned. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that."

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it?" she snapped, unable to hide her anger any longer. "If he had just given into their demands in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Do you really want such a weak-willed father?" Suzume wondered. "Do you even know what the bill is about?"

"No, and I don't really care."

"Well, you should, because it's an important piece of legislation that will hopefully protect thousands of men, women, and children from becoming victims of human trafficking. That's what the Takishima-gumi do, Rei-chan. They go to China, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, and they convince poor, uneducated women to come to Japan, where they force them into participating in prostitution and pornography. So, knowing that, do you really think your father should have given in to these monsters' demands, just to keep his family safe from harm?"

"I-I didn't realize," Rei said, feeling ashamed for her earlier outburst. "I just -"

"I know." Suzume scooted over to Rei so that they were sitting side by side, their backs against the wall. "You're hungry, and you're tired, and you're sore. You're looking for somebody to blame, but this isn't your father's fault. He made a tough decision, but I still believe it was the right one. If you want to be pissed off at somebody, then direct your anger at the Takishima-gumi. They're the ones who really deserve it."

"You're right." Behind her back, Rei clenched her hands into tight fists and began pulling them in opposite directions with all her strength, as she had been doing off-and-on for the past couple of hours. If only she could free herself from the handcuffs… But she didn't have the physical strength in her civilian form to break them. Even Makoto might have found it a difficult task to perform. "Dammit," she swore under her breath, her wrists aching from the attempt.

"Rei-chan, are you okay?"

Rei lightly banged the back of her head against the wall. "I'm fine," she said. "I just wish there was something I could do to get us out of here."

"It shouldn't be much longer now," Suzume said. "Yamaguchi said the trade-off would be tonight."

"But what is otou-sama going to do, Kimura-san? You just told me that the bill was too important for him to drop. If he refuses to do what they say…" Rei tried very hard not to think about what would happen to them if things didn't go the way the gang wanted. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," she admitted in a soft voice, losing some of the faith she had shown earlier. "I just don't know."

The both of them were startled a few minutes later when the door opened once again. Rather than Yamaguchi and Touma, their new visitors were two heavily tattooed men who roughly pulled Suzume and Rei to their feet after releasing the cuffs around their ankles. Rei, seeing a chance to escape, attempted to knee her handler in the groin, but he quickly blocked her, pulling her toward him and holding a sharp knife at her throat.

"Rei-chan!" Suzume shouted.

"No funny business, girlie, if ya know what's good for you," the man growled. "Do you understand?"

Rei gave a slight nod, and the man shoved her forward, out of the small room that had been their prison and into a narrow corridor.

"Now walk," he barked, keeping one hand gripped to her arm so tightly that Rei had to bite down on her lip to keep from crying out.

Suzume and the other man followed after them, taking up the rear.

They were led inside what appeared to be the main area of an abandoned warehouse, where a group of gang members had assembled, armed with knives, pipes, and even a few guns. In the very center of the room, standing underneath an overhead light, was Rei's father, carrying a large black suitcase in his hand. His eyes widened when he saw them come in.

"Suzume-san. Rei-san."

"Takashi!" Upon seeing him, Suzume attempted to break free of her handler's grasp, but one of the other members stepped forward to discipline her, slapping a long metal pipe against the palm of his hand as he walked toward her.

"Stop!" Rei's father ordered. "Don't harm her. I brought the money like you asked." He set the suitcase down on the cement floor, then stepped back, his hands in the air. "One hundred million yen, in cash."

A man dressed in flashy clothes Rei assumed was the gang leader signaled for one of his flunkies to bring the suitcase to him. The underling opened the suitcase and presented it to his boss, who inspected it, making certain the cash was real and not counterfeit.

"It's a start, Hino," the boss said, dismissing the flunky with a wave of his hand, "but money is not our main objective. You know what we really want. Kill the bill."

"Let them go," Rei's father said. "They have nothing to do with this. This is between you and me."

"Oh, but wasn't it this one who convinced ya to introduce the bill in the first place?" He walked over to Suzume. "You should have left well enough alone, missie. Women have no place in politics. After all, the only things they're good for is cleaning and screwing, am I right, boys?"

Her eyes narrowed in righteous fury as the other gang members voiced their agreement, Suzume spat in his face.

"Honestly, I don't get what you see in this one, Hino," he said, wiping his cheek with a handkerchief. "She's not even that pretty. Now, the miko, on the other hand…"

"Stay away from Rei-chan, you pig!" Suzume shouted, straining against her handler's hold on her. "She really doesn't have anything to do with this."

"Suzume-san, please," Rei's father begged. "You're making things worse."

The boss smirked. "Yes, listen to your man like a proper little woman should."

"I will not," she said, defiant. "If you want to punish me for my role in creating the bill, fine, you can have me, but let Rei-chan go. You got your money; that should be enough to buy her freedom. She's only a child!"

"Kimura-san…" Rei murmured, shocked that Suzume would be willing to sacrifice herself to protect her.

"A child, huh?" The boss's lecherous eyes roamed up Rei's body, causing her to shudder in disgust. "She don't look much like a child to me."

"You really are a pig," Rei's father declared, his hands clenched at his sides. "I came here hoping to settle things diplomatically, but -"

"But what? What can someone like you do to me, Kozuka Ryota, leader of the Takishima-gumi?" Kozuka laughed when he failed to provide an answer. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You talk tough, but you don't have the guts to follow through - just what I'd expect from a politician. You might as well give it up now, 'cause unlike you, I always follow through on my threats. In fact, why don't I give you a little taste of what will happen to your daughter if I don't get what I want?"

Rei's heart began pounding against her ribcage as he walked over to her and roughly yanked up her chin, forcing her to look into eyes of pure evil, equal to those of any enemy she had fought. "Such a pretty little thing, isn't she?" he said, licking his chapped lips. "I always did find girls dressed as miko a turn-on, and to think she's the real, genuine article. A virgin, right?"

Despite her fear, she glared at him, refusing to dignify the question with a response. Kozuka released his grip on her chin, and his hand slithered downwards, moving to slide underneath her robes. Rei was just about kick him where it would hurt the most, when -

"Get your filthy hands off my daughter, you bastard!"

Rei had never heard her father sound so angry before in her entire life, his voice full of venom as he pulled a gun out from a holster hidden underneath his blazer. The boss, taken by surprise, removed his hand from Rei's chest and turned back around.

"My, my, an elected official in the possession of an illegal firearm?" He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head. Even though the gun was aimed directly at him, he didn't appear too concerned by the threat, seeming almost amused by the whole thing. "What is this country coming to?"

Rei's father's arm shook, yet he kept the gun directed at Kozuka, not backing down. "Release Suzume-san and Rei-san right now, or I'll shoot. I swear I will, Kozuka."

The boss laughed. "You don't have the balls to shoot me, Hino," he said, pulling out his own gun. "Me, on the other hand? I don't have a problem with it."

Without as much as a warning, Kozuka shot Rei's father in the shoulder, forcing him to discard the gun. Groaning, he fell down to his knees, gripping his wounded arm with his good hand.

"Takashi!" Suzume shrieked at the same time Rei found herself shouting, "Otou-sama!"

After picking up the gun her father had dropped from the floor, Kozuka walked up to him and pressed the barrel of his gun against his temple. The other gun - her father's gun - he pointed in the direction of where Rei and Suzume were being held.

"I've had enough playing Mr. Nice Guy," the boss said. His voice was no longer mocking, but cool and serious. "If you don't agree to make that bill disappear in the next minute, I'll put a bullet in your brain, then have a little fun with your mistress and your cute daughter before sending them to join you. Yeah, I think that will serve quite nicely as a warning to any of your other buddies who might be thinking of throwing their support behind the bill. So, what's it gonna be, Hino? Will you choose to save your family, or will you die for your politics?"

Rei never heard her father's answer, for at that moment, the warehouse was filled with a familiar fog, throwing everything into chaos.

* * *

"What the hell?" Rei's handler muttered, loosening his grip on her arm.

It was just the opening she was waiting for. Turning around, Rei used all her strength to ram her shoulder into him, pushing him into the wall behind them. The man hit his head hard against the brick and slumped down to ground, knocked unconscious.

"Good work, Rei-chan," Venus said, jumping down from the catwalk above them as the rest of the senshi began engaging the other gang members in battle. Using her Love-Me Chain attack, she tied the man up with an energy rope. "Are you alright?"

Rei smiled, never so glad to see her friends in her life. "Yeah," she said, pivoting around to show Venus the handcuffs. "Just get these things off of me, will you? That guy should have the key on him. Check his pockets."

Venus quickly located a set of keys and got to work on freeing Rei.

"How did you find us?" Rei asked as Venus tried to figure out which key would unlock the handcuffs.

"Ami-chan's computer. I needed a study break, so I dropped by the shrine to ask if you wanted to catch a late movie. When I saw you weren't around, though, I got a little worried and contacted the others. Ah, I think this is it!" Locating the right key, she released Rei from the handcuffs, then handed her the Mars henshin wand. "Here, I thought this might come in handy."

"Thanks."

As Venus left to go help the others with the fighting, Rei held up her wand and called out, "Mars Crystal Power, Make-up!" Since Mercury's fog was so thick, there was no need to worry about being discovered. A blaze of fire engulfed her body, and a few moments later, Rei was transformed into her alter-ego, Sailor Mars.

"Rei-san!"

"Rei-chan!"

Somewhere in the dense fog, Rei heard her father and Suzume calling out her name. _Thank goodness they're still alive! _she thought. When the fog first appeared, she had heard a number of gunshots go off, some of the gang members probably startled by the appearance of the strange phenomenon. She worried that one of the stray bullets might have hit one of them.

They needed to get out of there, though, especially her father. Following the sound of their voices, Rei made her way through the fog until she finally found them walking together, her father leaning against Suzume for support. He looked pale, and the sleeve of his expensive suit jacket was soaked in blood.

Rei had to cover her mouth to stop herself from crying out when she saw him. Right now, she was Sailor Mars; she couldn't betray herself as Hino Rei.

"You two need to get out of here," she said in an as authoritative voice she as she could muster. "Call for the ambulance and the police."

Her father shook his head. "No," he said, coughing. "I have to find my daughter first. I can't leave her."

"S-She's fine." Rei glanced away, afraid that if she looked him in the eye, she would start crying. Ten years, he had treated her almost as if she didn't exist, yet as he barely hung onto life, his only thought was making sure she was safe. "She snuck out when the fighting first broke out," she lied.

"Are you certain?" Suzume asked, tightening her grip around her injured fiancé's waist as she struggled to hold him up. Somehow, she had gotten free of her own handcuffs.

"Yes, now go! The exit is that way. I'll cover you."

Rei followed the two of them as they slowly made their way toward the door she hoped led outside, throwing her ofuda scrolls at any gang member they came across. If the losers hadn't been human, she would have taken great pleasure in using her powers to make them burn to ashes in a fiery inferno, but she supposed she would just have to be satisfied with making sure they all received the maximum amount of jail time when it was all over.

Every once in a while, she glanced over at her father, who seemed to be growing weaker by the moment. He had lost a severe amount of blood, and Suzume was having trouble holding him up, but Rei couldn't help her when she was busy fighting off attackers.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally managed to find their way out of the warehouse. Rei breathed a sigh of relief, but the peace was not to last. Only a few steps away from the exit, her father collapsed, pulling Suzume halfway down with him. Suzume screamed at the top of her lungs, and it took all of Rei's willpower not to do the same. Though she meant to go back inside and help the others once she got them out of harm's way, her body remained frozen in place.

"Takashi! Takashi!" Suzume kneeled down beside him, taking his hand in hers. "Stay with me, sweetheart," she said, tears running down her cheeks. "Please, stay with me."

"Suzume-san…" His voice was feeble, and every word he spoke seemed to take an extraordinary amount of effort. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I should -"

She shook her head, cutting him off. "No, you're not to blame. That bill will protect so many people; it needs to be passed. We worked so hard on it…"

He gave her a small smile. "I love you," he said. "I never told you that, did I?" He slipped his hand out of her grasp and placed it against Suzume's stomach. "Sorry, I don't think I will be able to keep my promise. Take care of Rei-san and the baby for me…"

At that last part, Rei could no longer hold back her tears, and her Sailor Mars transformation faded away.

Suzume gasped. "R-Rei-chan? You're…?"

Rei kneeled down on the other side of her father, ignoring Suzume's unfinished question. There would be time later to explain.

"Otou-sama, don't say things like that!" she begged. "Your baby needs you." She choked back a sob. "I-I need you."

"Rei-san… I'm…so sorry…"

"No." Rei wiped away her tears with her hands. "Don't you dare abandon me again," she said. "If you do, I really will never forgive you, so you have to live. Do you hear me? You are not dying!" She tore off one of her sleeves and handed it to Suzume. "Use this to apply pressure to the wound. Otou-sama, do you have a cell with you?"

"Jacket… Left pocket."

Rei located the phone and contacted emergency services, praying that they would make would make it there in time.

* * *

"How is he?" Rei asked Suzume, slipping into her father's private hospital room a couple of hours later.

While Suzume had accompanied him to the hospital, Rei had chosen to go with the police to give them her statement, knowing that she would drive herself crazy if she had to sit around, waiting for news on her father's condition. At least talking to cops made her feel like she was doing something useful.

"Oh, Rei-chan, you're back."

Suzume sat in the chair next to her father's bed, holding his left hand in between her own. He was asleep, most likely still under anesthesia, and his right shoulder was wrapped in bandages. Though he still looked rather pale to Rei, he was beginning to get some of his color back.

"The surgery was successful," Suzume said in a strained voice, "but, um, the doctors said that he might not ever fully regain control of his arm." She set his hand back down on the bed and brushed away her tears, trying to compose herself. "Sorry, I - What happened with the police?" she asked, changing the subject.

Rei walked over to the foot of the bed. "They think they've managed to round up all the members of the Takishima-gumi who were present at the warehouse," she informed her. "They made twenty-three arrests, but there were four casualties, including Kozuka Ryota, the leader."

"Good. I'm glad."

Rei hesitated a moment before asking the question that had immediately crossed her mind when she learned that Kozuka had been killed. "Kimura-san, did - I mean, was otou-sama the one…?"

"I don't know," she admitted with a shake of her head. "That fog was so thick, I couldn't see much of anything. Does it really matter if he did? It was obviously self-defense."

"You're right. I guess it doesn't matter."

"But did you tell the cops?"

"No, I 'forgot' to mention it," Rei said, knowing that Suzume was referring to the pistol in her father's possession. "His fingerprints are probably on the gun, though, and there were plenty of other witnesses who saw him threaten Kozuka with it. What's going to happen to him? Will otou-sama go to jail?"

Suzume sighed. "I don't know, Rei-chan. Probably, although considering the circumstances, I hope he will get a light sentence. In any case, his political career will be over once it hits the news."

"But -"

"Takashi knew what he was risking when he chose to arm himself, and I'm sure he's prepared to face the consequences for his actions." A small, sad smile crossed her lips as she brushed back the hair from his forehead. "He may have broken the law, but he still believes in it."

"Then why did he do it?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's because he - Takashi?"

A soft moan escaped his lips as he stirred awake. "Suzume-san?" He sounded disorientated. "What happened? Where am I?"

"The hospital. You were shot, but the doctors say you're going to be just fine." She smiled, but Rei thought it looked rather forced and noticed that she didn't tell him about the possible lack of mobility in his right arm. "I'm so glad. I was so afraid we would lose you."

"The Takishima-gumi…" he murmured, starting to remember. His eyes widened. "Are you okay? And the baby? Did they hurt you?"

"We all made it through." She placed a hand on her stomach. "The baby's fine, I'm fine…" Suzume glanced over at Rei, who was still standing at the foot of bed. "Rei-chan is fine, too."

He followed Suzume's gaze, noticing Rei was also in the room for the first time. "Rei-san…"

"Um, I think I'll go down to the cafeteria for some dinner," Suzume announced, rising from the chair and kissing Rei's father on the forehead. "Now that I know you're going to be alright, my appetite is coming back." She whispered something in his ear that Rei couldn't hear, then left the room, giving them some privacy.

Rei remained standing where she was, her hands gripping the footboard. As happy as she was to see him alive and well after everything that had happened - and she was - that didn't just erase the many years of bad blood between them. She wasn't quite sure how to act, and judging by his silence, her father was feeling the same.

"H-How are you feeling, otou-sama?" Rei finally asked.

"I've been better," he admitted, "but I'm glad you and Suzume-san are safe."

"I like her. I didn't think I would, but Kimura-san is a good person."

"Yes, she's a remarkable woman. As are you, Rei-san." Rei glanced up, surprised, and he smiled. "So, you're some kind of superheroine? Or is 'magical girl' the more correct terminology?"

"Something like that, yeah." Feeling a little bit more at ease, she took a seat in chair Suzume had vacated. "It's kind of a long story, though. I'll tell you all about it some other time."

"I'd like that," he said. "There's so much I don't know about you, but I'd like that to change - I mean, if that's okay with you. I know I probably have no right to expect you to give me a second chance, but…"

"I think I'd like that, too," Rei said. Hesitantly, she reached for her father's hand. "I'd like that very much, otou-sama."

One year later…

Hino Satoshi was, without a doubt, the cutest baby in the world.

Before her little brother's birth, Rei never thought of herself as much of a "baby" person, but the second she laid eyes on Satoshi at the hospital, it was love at first sight. She had taken to her new role as "big sister" like a fish to water, and she took every opportunity she could to drop by the apartment, helping Suzume take care of him while their father served his ten-month sentence for possession of an illegal firearm.

But today their father was finally being released from prison and would meet his new son for the first time.

"Rei-chan, can you come in here for a moment?" Suzume called from the bedroom. "I need your opinion on something."

Rei, carrying little Satoshi on her hip, entered the bedroom, where she found Suzume standing in front of a full-length mirror, inspecting her reflection. She was wearing a white blazer over a simple striped dress, and her usually straight light brown hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders.

"Do I look okay in this?" she asked Rei.

"You look great, Suzume-san." Rei no longer called her by her last name, feeling as if Suzume was a part of the family even if she and her father were still technically unmarried. They never got the chance to make it official before he was imprisoned.

Suzume frowned, sucking in her stomach. "I don't know… I wish I could fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes again, but these last ten pounds are taking forever for me to lose."

"Well, I think you look fantastic for somebody who just gave birth five months ago."

"Thanks. I guess this will do, then." Turning around, her face brightened when she saw Rei holding Satoshi, and she held out her arms. "Oh, doesn't he look adorable in that sailor suit! Here, let me have him."

"I just changed his diaper a few minutes ago," Rei informed her as she handed the baby over, "and I put some extra in the bag."

"Did you remember to pack Kuma, too?" Kuma was Satoshi's favorite toy, a stuffed bear Rei's grandfather had given him as a present. As Rei's paternal grandparents were both dead and Suzume's family had pretty much disowned her for "bringing shame and disgrace upon the Kimura name," he had stepped into the role of adopted grandfather to Satoshi, a role he relished.

"Don't worry, I would never forget Kuma. He's in there, too."

"Thanks, Rei-chan. You're always such a big help. I don't know what I would have done without you these last few months. You're a lifesaver."

"I'm sure you would have managed somehow, but I'm glad I was able to help. I know things must be rough without otou-sama around."

"I still can't believe Takashi is finally coming home." Holding him close, Suzume kissed her son on the top of his head. "Are you excited to meet your papa, Satoshi?"

The five-month-old gave a toothless grin and reached for the strand of pearls Suzume wore around her neck. Both she and Rei laughed.

"If you're ready, we should probably get going," Rei said as Suzume extracted the necklace from Satoshi's hands. "Otou-sama is set to be released at noon, right? I'll get the diaper bag."

"Yes, let's go get Papa."

Forty-five minutes later, they sat in the lobby of the prison building, waiting for him to be released. Though they had arrived around ten minutes before noon, there seemed to be some sort of hold up. "What's taking so long?" Rei asked, checking her watch for what seemed the hundredth time. It read twenty minutes after. "He should have been released by now."

"These things take time. It won't be too much longer."

Still, Suzume seemed anxious, wringing her hands in her lap. The only one who didn't seem to mind the long wait was Satoshi, who was sitting in his stroller and happily chewed on Kuma's ear, oblivious to anything that was going on around him.

"Hino Takashi-san, you are free to go," a prison guard announced a few minutes later, opening the door.

The moment Rei's father stepped out, Suzume jumped up from her seat and ran over to him. "Takashi!" Throwing her arms around his neck, she proceeded to give him the longest, deepest, most passionate kiss Rei had ever witnessed in real-life - which was saying something when they were competing against Usagi and Mamoru.

Even the prison guard seemed embarrassed by such a blatant public display of affection. "Er, yes, good luck, and, uh, please try to keep out of trouble from now on," he said before heading back, although Rei doubted either one of them had heard him.

"Your mama is really happy to see otou-sama again, isn't she?" Rei said to Satoshi, turning her attention away from the reuniting couple to her baby brother. "I guess she does love him, after all." Not that she had doubted Suzume's feelings after everything that had happened.

Eventually, the two pulled apart, ending the marathon kiss, and Suzume led Rei's father over to where Rei and Satoshi were waiting. Up close, Rei was shocked by his haggard appearance. He looked like he had lost at least twenty pounds since the last time she saw him, and a few gray hairs had sprouted at his roots, yet the moment he set eyes on Satoshi, it was as if he had suddenly lost twenty years in the blink of an eye.

"There's somebody I would like you to meet," Suzume said, taking the baby out of the stroller and placing Satoshi in his left arm. As the doctors had predicted, he had lost most of the mobility in his other arm and could no longer raise it up. "This is your son, Satoshi."

"He's beautiful," he said, landing a kiss on the top of Satoshi's head. "Hello, Satoshi-san, do you know who I am? I'm your father. I'm sorry I haven't been around, but all that's going to change. From this moment on, I'm never going to leave you and your mother ever again, I promise."

Satoshi chose that moment to let out an ear-piercing wail. Suzume took him back, grabbing the diaper bag from the back of the stroller and throwing it over her shoulder. "Sorry about that, Takashi," she said. "Please don't take it personally. It's not you. I think he just needs to be changed. We'll be back in a few minutes."

She took Satoshi to the restroom, leaving Rei and her father alone together for the first time.

"Hello, Rei-san," he said. "How have you been?"

"Good." She stuffed her hands into her jeans. Even though they had made peace, it still felt awkward being alone with him. "I graduated a few months ago, so I've begun my priestess training. It's been going well so far."

"Oh, right. I missed your high school graduation…"

"It's not a big deal," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Suzume-san came in your place. She and ojii-chan took a ton of pictures for you."

His eyes widened slightly. "Suzume-san?" he repeated, noticing her use of a less formal address. "So you two have become closer, then. I'm glad."

"Yeah, I guess so, especially these last few months. She tries not to show it too much, but I think she's been having a rough time." Rei frowned. "Her parents are still refusing to talk to her, and she hasn't had much luck in finding a new job because of the scandal. I try to drop by the apartment at least once a day and take Satoshi off her hands for an hour or two so that she has time to run errands or just have a few moments to herself."

"Thank you. I'm sure she appreciates it." He let out a heavy sigh. "I wish I could have been there for her, though. And I've missed so much…"

"Otou-sama, it wasn't your fault this time," she said, knowing he felt guilty after all his promises that things would be different. "There was nothing you could do about it. Nobody blames you for not being around."

"Rei-san…"

"But now that you're a free man, you _better _keep the promise you just made to Satoshi." Removing her hands from her pockets, she lightly poked him in the chest. "Because if you don't…"

"I will," he promised. "I've learned from my mistakes."

"Good." Satisfied with his response, Rei smiled for the first time. She truly believed he meant it. "Well, anyway, I should get going. Tell Suzume-san and Satoshi good-bye for me."

"Wait." As she turned to leave, he reached for her elbow with his good hand. "You're leaving already?"

"You probably want some alone time with your family, right? I don't want to be in the way."

"You're not in the way, Rei-san," he said, "and you're family, too. Please, I'd like you to stay." Her father let go of his grasp on her arm. "Unless you already have other plans…"

Rei turned back around. "N-No, I don't. Not really."

At that moment, Suzume returned from the trip to the restroom, carrying a much happier Satoshi. "Hey, did I miss anything important while we were gone?" she asked.

"Rei-san and I were about to discuss where to go for lunch," her father said. "I was thinking ramen sounded good."

"Ramen?" Kneeling down, Suzume placed Satoshi back in the stroller and buckled him up. "Wouldn't you prefer something fancier to celebrate your release? We can go to the _Rain Tree_."

He shook his head. "Every day, whenever the guards brought us our meals, all I kept thinking about was that delicious ramen you had delivered that one night when we were working late at the office. Is that place still open?"

"I think so." She straightened back up and smoothed down her dress. "It's been a while since I last ate there, but now that you mention it, I suddenly have a craving from some ramen, too." Turning to Rei, she asked, "What about you, Rei-chan? Is ramen okay?"

"Sure, I love ramen," she agreed.

"I'll be sure to remember that," her father said, referring back to the disastrous dinner when Rei had first met Suzume.

As the four of them walked out of the prison to Suzume's car - Rei pushing the stroller while her father and Suzume walked arm-in-arm - Rei had a feeling that the meal would be far more enjoyable this time around.

DISCLAIMER: _Sailor Moon _is the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written for the "Sailor Moon Big Bang" challenge at the "sailormoonland" community at Livejournal.


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